Adventures in group theory : Rubik's Cube, Merlin's machine, and other mathematical toys
Publisher's description: Group theory deals with symmetry, in the most abstract form possible. It is a core part of the undergraduate math curriculum, and forms part of the training of theoretical physicists and chemical crystallographers. Group theory has tended to be very dry--until now. David Joyner uses mathematical toys (primarily the Rubik's Cube and its more modern cousins, the Megaminx, the Pyraminx, and so on) as well as other mathematical examples (e.g., bell ringing) to breathe new life into a time-honored subject. "Why," asks the author, "should two such different topics, mechanical puzzles and abstract group theory, be related? This book takes the reader on an intellectual trip to answer this curiosity." Adventures in Group Theory will not only appeal to all math enthusiasts and interested general readers but will also find use in the classroom as a wonderful supplementary text in any abstract algebra or group theory course
Print Book, English, 2002
Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 2002
Puzzles and games
xv, 262 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm
9780801869457, 9780801869471, 0801869455, 0801869471
48013200
Elementary my dear Watson
'And you do addition?'
Bell ringing and other permutations
Procession of permutation puzzles
What's commutative and purple?
Welcome to the machine
'God's algorithm' and graphs
Symmetry and the Platonic solids
Illegal cube group
Words which move
(Legal) Rubik's Cube group
Squares, two-faces, and other subgroups
Other Rubik-like puzzle groups
Crossing the Rubicon
Some solution strategies
Coda : questions and other directions